Nietzsche : The Original Internet Edgelord
Visionary Chad or Grassless Redditor?
“Nietzsche thought he was the antichrist, he thought he was the end of Western philosophy he thought he was the final death blow to theology and to theism. — Michael Sugrue.
Widely accepted as one the most prolific philosophers of all time, Fredrich Nietzsche, who so boldly proclaimed the death of god, has been described as one of the architects of modern thought and a pioneer of Western intellectual tradition.
His works are cited endlessly from varying fields of interest and his surname is known to even the most uninitiated.
Though credited mostly for his rhetorical skill Neitsche was not only a brilliant philosopher but also a poet and rather underrated composer. Although, his music didn’t speak to the masses quite like his moral musings:
“the most undelightful and the most antimusical draft on musical paper that I have faced in a long time.”- Hans von Bülow
Nietzsche has become the archetypical representation of modern intellect and perhaps, philosophy as a whole. However, Nietzsche seems to fit another archetype, one that has become more well-defined in the 21st century: the edgelord.
An edgelord is a persona or character on the internet. This pretentious and precarious poser tries to shock and awe with their extreme, contrarian, or “edgy” views.
To be edgy is often as simple as opting for spectacle over substance. Some maintain the term springs from an amalgamation of “Edgy” and “shitlord” ie. someone who revels in the misery or confusion of others. The term has taken on a broader use in recent times, encompassing those whose opinions are motivated by an imagined cool factor or otherwise contend with matters they cannot master through anger and dismissal. Topped off, of course, with a comical lack of self-awareness.
1. He’s Way Smarter Than You (And He Knows It)
Nietzsche is a prodigal genius and thus your opinions are inconsequential to him.
As the Doogie Howser of philosophy, Nietzsche has enjoyed more praise than the pee-wee baseball team on the bus ride home from a devasting loss. Nietzsche started learning the Greek alphabet at three years old and by 24 became a professor of philology (language) at the University of Basel in Switzerland, to this day he remains one of the youngest persons ever to be offered a full professorship.
However, being smarter than the average Medium user isn’t cause enough to be awarded ultimate edgelord. No, in fact, intelligence is not even a factor. Your edginess only concerns how smart you think you are.
It is absolutely unnecessary, and not even desirable, for you to argue in my favor; on the contrary, a dose of curiosity, as if you were looking at an alien plant with ironic distance, would strike me as an incomparably more intelligent attitude toward me.
Exhibit A: Nietzsche describes himself in this passage of a letter to Carl Fuchs, as not only as strange, not only as distant but non-human and extraterrestrial. You shouldn’t support Nietzsche's views because you cannot even understand them, and furthermore, you should not even attempt to do so.
The best way to appreciate Nietzsche is to stare in helpless awe at his work, dumbstruck by the unfathomable genius that unfolds before you. When historians and critics describe you as a complex anomaly… that’s one thing, but in the context of a self-descriptor, it is the same energy as a 13-year-old recounting embellished tales of whatever coming-of-age summer activity that was conveniently absent of witnesses. Speaking of…
2. His Girlfriend Goes to Another School and You Wouldn't Know Her.
Anyone who attended high school or has a Twitter account can easily notice the correlation between one’s edginess and his success (or lack thereof) in matters of the fairer sex. A large portion of the edgelord population consists of incels or “involuntary celibates.”
Incel — /ˈinˌsel/ noun- a member of an online community of young men who consider themselves unable to attract women sexually, typically associated with views that are hostile toward women and men who are sexually active.
A small section of scholarship maintains that Nietzsche, in fact, died a virgin. Early in life, he favored the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, who, pretending he had a choice, advised pursuing the virtue of celibacy. in A History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russel summarizes Nietzsche’s experience with women as “Almost Confined to his sister.”
In the modern age, the incel claims their condition is voluntary for some virtuous pursuit or that they have simply yet to meet the woman who can contend with their impossible standards. However, what is quickly revealed is that these cheap excuses are thinly stretched over a deep hatred (to be fair, sometimes, misunderstanding) of women.
In Beyond Good & Evil, Nietzsche says that men should think of women as property. He goes on to say women have “so much cause for shame” as he delights in pondering the nature of “creatures” who have “nothing but dancing, and nonsense, and finery on their minds!”
Nietzsche never had children, was never married, nor did he even have a long-term relationship. However, Nietzsche’s loss of his sanity and ultimate demise would be wrought due to complications of syphilis leading most to believe that he in fact did the deed before he met his…nothingness.
3. Whatever You Think, it’s the Opposite.
Many lament the slow death of the modern-day water cooler. Society desperately clings to cultural cohesion amongst an avalanche of streaming services and niche content.
Nietzsche, on the other hand, was the type of guy to force you to watch clips of an unaired foreign-language mini-series on his outstretched phone while he studies your level of attention.
While at Schulpforta, Nietzsche pursued subjects that were considered unbecoming.
Nietzche’s contrarian nature becomes more apparent in his published work. In A Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche attempts to envelop and explain one of the most pondered and debated concepts of all time: human value and morality.
Neitzsche’s answer to morality? It doesn’t exist! and even if it did, all mankind had gotten it backward. Everything seen as good is actually evil and vice versa.
Up is down, east is west, forgiveness is for the weak, peace is for the slaves, and celibacy is for the peasants. Essentially, the weak and soft men of history, driven up by helpless envy, had deceived society into believing that their lifestyle was the virtuous one and that the rich and powerful were the cause of evil.
Nietzsche views Christian morality as slave morality. The Christian-Judeo values developed to turn weakness into virtue and strength into sin, in an effort to comfort and provide meaning to the meek and helpless. This inverted morality was created as hopeful wish fulfillment to comfort the psyches of the oppressed. Nietzsche pondered how morality became a table run by a bunch of nancies.
In other words….
4. He’s Tired of Beta Boys.
Like all edgelords, Nietzsche considers himself a classic man. He's who all would aspire to be if they were smart enough to know what's good for them.
Thus, in order to deny your lying eyes and comprehend Neitzshe's genius, mankind must first evolve into a superior being or else transcend their own limited and feeble consciousness.
Edgieness is nothing without its trademark air of superiority. The ubermensch (German for “overman” or “superman”) is a concept described in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. This intellectual powerhouse who could totally beat up your dad would ignore all the haters (society), instead acting according to their own set of values regardless of public opinion. According to Nietzsche, this self-actualization would be the ultimate form of personal evolution, allowing the ubermensch to propel themselves forward in the direction they choose.
Nietzsche believed that in order to progress man must evolve into this superman who could transcend beyond moral and societal boundaries, a being who would look down on man the way man looks down on apes.
The question remains, how will we recognize this superior man?
5. Facial Hair Warfare
Was the mustache the fedora of the 16th century? Perhaps.
Regardless, one cannot help but recognize the relation between edginess in rhetoric and edginess in style.
These modern-day Men’s Warehouse bargain hunters know they look good and they don't care what your passe beauty standards have to say. If you don't wear a vest and suspenders suitable for a swing band to Mcdonald’s then you probably just don’t know what a real man looks like.
Similarly, if you can’t understand the need to involuntarily floss every time you speak or to have a dangling supply of gently used food within a tonging distance at all times, well, then you probably are a Charmin-soft sissy who thinks life has meaning or something. Speaking of…
6. He is Apathy Incarnate
an edgelord is especially attracted to taboo and controversial topics, which best showcase their would-be nihilism. -Yourdictionary.com
Apathy is one of the coolest and edgiest traits one can have. In other words, the less you care about the cooler you are.
Let's test this approach by examining Nietzsche's antithesis: the average American Dad. Dads care about a lot of things, their jobs, their lawns, and sometimes even their kids. Whether Dads become so uncool because they care or are compelled to care because of their uncoolness is a different story, However, the correlation is inarguably there.
Now take a look at Nietzsche, not only does he not care what you think, he does not care about literally anything.
Nietzsche was the pioneer of nihilism, a belief in the ultimate meaninglessness of life and existence.
“If we believe in nothing, if nothing has any meaning and if we can affirm no values whatsoever, then everything is possible and nothing has any importance.” ― Albert Camus, The Rebel
It is pretty cool to say “school/work/society is meaningless” but this edge wasn't sharp enough for Nietzsche, he proposes that everything, in fact, existence itself is entirely devoid of meaning and, therefore, he couldn't care about it if he wanted to. Mirror mirror on the wall, whos the edgiest of them all?
Nietzsche eventually collapsed under the unbearable weight of his genius and slipped into insanity. In his “Wahnzettel” (aka “delusion notes” or “Madness Letters.”) Nietzsche finally admits that he is not only the coolest most misunderstood dude in the world, but that he indeed created it.
It is a mere prejudice that I am a human being… Among the Hindus I was Buddha, in Greece Dionysus — Alexander and Caesar were incarnations of me, as well as the poet of Shakespeare, Lord Bacon. Most recently I was Voltaire and Napoleon… The heavens rejoice to see me here … I also hung on the cross.
While the facts of this story are true, we have approached them from a humorous angle I would ultimately have to concede that Nietzsche, while seemingly encompassing all the now archetypical features of the modern-day edgelord, does not quite earn the crown.
There is one crucial difference, Nietzseh was effective.
He was not edgy for edginess' sake, he was not a contrarian simply for the punk rock aesthetic, and he was not lying. Nietzsche truly did have an edge and he truly did question the world he faced, and those questions, in turn, changed the face of the world.
Archetypes are a double-edged sword and we must remember that even the greatest of humans were just that, human.
Thanks for Reading!
